Cool down, cool down, are the autumn pants ready? Wear it! Everyone said that this year was affected by the La Niña phenomenon and could be a cold winter.
In fact, between about the thirteenth and nineteenth centuries, there was a cold climate in a large part of the earth, which was called the Xiaoice River Period. Corresponding to the dynasties of our country, that is probably the period from the end of the Southern Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty.
So, how cold is Xiaoice river period?
The "Jiangnan Tongzhi" once recorded: "In the twelfth year of Emperor Xiaozong's reign, and the fifteenth year of winter cold, the Water of the Qiyang River froze the river, and the water of the Yuyao River froze together. ”
Qiyang, or Qiyang County, is now part of Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, in the southwest of Hunan Province, Yuyao is now Yuyao, Zhejiang, both places are in the Jiangnan region. The river surface in Jiangnan is frozen, and boat trips have to break the ice.
"Jiangnan Tongzhi" book shadow
"Guangdong Tongzhi": "In the winter of the first year of Wuzong Zhengde, the rain and snow in Wanzhou, Qiongzhou Province (Hainan) in Guangdong... In the winter of the fourth year of Ming Wuzong Zhengde, The meteorite snow in Chaozhou, Guangdong, was thick and thick. ”
In the first year of Emperor Mingwu's reign, it actually snowed in Wanning, Hainan and Chaozhou, Guangdong! These two places, one in the tropics and the other in the subtropics, not only snow but also deep snow, are rare.
Ming Tang Yin's "Chaimen Snow Cover"
In the eighth year of Emperor Wuzong Zhengde's reign, the Jiangxi Tongzhi contained the frozen Dongting Lake, which was feasible for people to ride. Being able to skate on Dongting Lake makes it feel beautiful to think about.
Stop, stop.
Northern Song Dynasty Fan Kuan's "Snow Scene Cold Forest Map"
Such abnormal snow, more often than not, brings disasters, freezing for thousands of miles, damaging grass seedlings, rat plagues, locust plagues, and even worse, freezing people and animals. The sudden arrival of winter has caught people off guard.
But the wise ancients came up with a set of cold methods early on.
Imperial Noble Guard Method
01
Thick walls
When we see the palace drama, we can see the thick walls of the Forbidden City. These walls can not only separate the small lords, so that they do not have to quarrel every day, but more importantly, play a role in preventing fire and cold.
The walls of the ancient buildings of the Forbidden City are very thick, such as the wall of the Taihe Hall, which is 1.45 m thick, which can play a good thermal insulation effect. In addition, most of the palaces are sitting north and facing south, so that they can better enjoy the sunshine and thus achieve the effect of keeping warm.
Palace Wall
02
Underfloor heating
Walking into the palace from the courtyard, it is still cold inside, what to do? At this time, the floor heating should work. There are two main types of floor heating in the imperial palace or the royal palace, the fire kang and the warm pavilion.
The late Ming eunuch Liu Ruoyu wrote the "Chronicle of the Great Internal Regulations" in volume 17 of the "Zhi Zhongzhi" ("The Chronicle of the Great Internal Regulations" has: "Right to the east is known as the Maoqin Hall, where the former emperor created the kang, and heng lin yuzhi"; Volume XX The Chronicle of Good Diet has: "October... It was time and night that had grown, and the inner court began to burn the ground."
The pit mentioned here is the fire kang. Generally speaking, there are fire channels under the kang, and its structure is similar to the kang in the northern countryside today.
The little eunuch in charge of the furnace will burn charcoal in the hearth, and the smoke generated by the charcoal will flow with the flue in the temple, and the heat generated in it will warm the ground and make the temperature in the house rise.
At present, the Dongnuan Pavilion of Kuning Palace still retains this facility, and interested partners can go to see it.
03
Smoke baskets and smokers
After the ground is warm, you have to consider the cold and warmth in the space. Smoke cages, called.
The smoking cage, which is a bamboo cage placed on a charcoal basin, is matched with a smoker, and is an ancient appliance for baking and heating, which can be used for incense, smoking clothes, and smoking quilts. The earliest smoking cages in ancient times came from the Han Dynasty, which were fired for ceramics, and after the Ming and Qing dynasties, the smoke cages entered a prosperous period.
In the Forbidden City, there are fine works of cloisonné such as filigree enamel, as well as cast copper gilded and exquisitely engraved products, highlighting the high-end atmosphere of the royal family.
In addition, there are small mobile charcoal stoves that can only be used by emperors and concubines. The foot stoves that are placed under the feet to warm the feet are called the foot stoves, and the hand stoves used to warm hands, these small stoves have lifting beams, and the eunuchs and palace ladies can carry them.
Ming Jingtai style filigree enamel tangled lotus pattern mite ear smoker
Qing silk enamel three-legged smoker
04
Red Lotus Charcoal
There is a scene in "The Tale of Ruyi" in which the noble concubine frames Hai Chang for stealing her red luo charcoal, making her kneel in the snow, and even ripping off her clothes.
Stills from "The Tale of Ruyi"
So, where is the red lotus charcoal sacred?
The best "Red Luo Charcoal" is fired from hard wood produced in Zhuozhou, Tongzhou, Jizhou, Yizhou, Wanping, Daxing and other places. After they are charcoal, they are sawn into segments according to their size, loaded into small baskets coated with laterite, and sent to the palace for use, so they are called "red charcoal".
This charcoal is of very high quality, can burn for a long time, has strong firepower, does not smoke, has no odor, and does not pollute the air. The only drawback is that the amount is too small and the supply exceeds the demand. According to the "History of the National Dynasty Palace", Chang Zai can only get "black charcoal, summer ten pounds, winter twenty pounds", so Hai Chang is not eligible to use red Luo charcoal in the small pity, And Gao Cute uses this article to frame Hai Chang for stealing charcoal.
05
Winter wear
The heating equipment in the room is done, so you have to consider your own warmth, winter clothes, is essential.
The emperor's dragon robe will be made of black fox skin, with piping such as sable skin, and the crown will be made of smoked mink and black fox skin.
Qing Kangxi Ming Huang Di CaiYun Golden Dragon Makeup Flower Satin Mink Robe
In the "Biography of Zhen Huan", the wealthy Concubine Hua sent the empress dowager a set of ink foxes produced in the Qinghai region, and afterwards she was criticized by the empress dowager, feeling that it was too luxurious.
Even the empress dowager felt luxurious, which showed the rarity of the Ink Fox in ancient times.
Stills from "The Biography of Zhen Huan"
06
Small hot pot
Winter cold protection, less to warm the stomach, hot pot, essential.
Among the cultural relics unearthed during the Three Kingdoms period, there is a "five-cooked kettle", which is an earlier historical "hot pot-like" cultural relic that has both historical materials to examine and physical examples.
Until the Qing Dynasty, the Kangqian period held a "royal feast" - the Feast of a Thousand Sorrows, which made the hot pot famous in the world. The Feast of a Thousand Sorrows is to invite "birthday stars" over the age of 65 all over the world to enter Beijing, collectively worship and wish for a happy birthday.
Qing Hong's Calendar Book Of Thousand Sorrows Feast Gong Yi Emperor Zu Yuan Yun Seven Laws Note
The court considered that if it was an ordinary dish, it would be cold, cold and hard, and the taste was really bad, so it thought that everyone would play hot pot together, so that there was no need to eat cold food.
Empress Dowager Cixi, who is very fond of enjoying her favorite hot pot, is the "chrysanthemum pot".
Qing silk enamel dough pattern diamond fancy hot pot
Clear silver belt cover hot pot
The gentry of the chancellor's method of keeping the cold
Among the ministers and gentry, the economic conditions are relatively good, and there are also thick walls and floor heating in the home, which they also enjoy.
Compared with the nobles in the palace, the quality of the clothes of the ministers for the winter was not bad. In "Dream of the Red Chamber", the people of Jia Province, when spending the winter, dressed very exquisitely.
Qing Yongzheng Stone green pigment satin white fox skin often wearing gowns
In the forty-ninth time, Shi Xiangyun wore a "sable rat head face big hair black gray rat inside and outside the fever coat". The "fever inside and out" mentioned here refers to the clothing used for winter, the appearance and the inside are filled with fur, so that the inside and outside are furry and very warm.
"Fever inside and out" was very popular during the Qianlong and Jiaqing years of the Qing Dynasty.
Qing Kangxi Mink Xin face Huang Xin Lippi long coat
Cranes, felts, mink rats, fox fur, tweeds, the fur of these animals is the favorite material of the rich and noble families.
Warm supplement
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, a new school of medicine emerged: the Wen Supplement School.
Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica, Mu Er, Houpu" quotes Hu Zhenheng as saying: "Magnolia belongs to the soil, and there is fire... Accompanied by Cang Shu, it is the wetness in the stomach of the diarrhea, and the flat stomach soil is too much, so that it is only neutralized, not to warm the spleen and stomach. ”
Doctors emphasize the importance of the spleen and stomach, not only dividing hypotrophic diseases into "yang deficiency, yin deficiency, true yang deficiency", etc., but also advocating taking different tonics in the morning and evening. This is also something that the average civilian population cannot afford.
Tang Pozi
The minister's home also has smoke baskets and smokers, in addition, there is a very convenient "warm water bag" - Tang Pozi.
Tang Pozi is also called "Lady Xi", "Tang Mi (ǎo)", "Foot Woman", "Xi Nu" and "Hot Po Zi", and this portable "hand warmer" has been available since the Song Dynasty.
Make a small opening above this copper or porcelain flat round pot and pour hot water into it, with a pot inside the lid to prevent penetration.
Huang Tingjian once wrote in "Drama Warm Foot Bottle": "Thousands of dollars to buy a foot woman, sleep night until dawn." "You can see how warm Tang Pozi is. There is also the fact that "soup" refers to "hot water", and "mother-in-law" is the meaning of the ancients jokingly referring to accompanying sleep. Isn't the name of the ancients interesting?
Copper carved fish dragon begonia type hand stove
The method of keeping the people out of the cold
Coat
Before cotton clothes were popularized, "cloth was cold like iron for many years" was very common. At that time, ordinary people could only make clothes with animal fur and hemp.
Although cotton has long been introduced to China, it has not been popularized for various reasons. Until the Yuan Dynasty, there were works summarizing the experience of cotton planting, which enabled cotton to be widely planted, and ordinary people could afford to wear cotton clothes.
When we struggled to wear autumn pants or mom's big cotton pants, the Song people tried to "open crotch knee pants". However, this kind of pants that are more covered in crotch pants is still a big gap from the warm cotton pants seen today.